It Began To End
by magdelapetrem
Summary: The day the war began to end.


I owneth no characters here.

* * *

When Mandark was called into the conference room of Sector V's tree house, he didn't know what to expect. In the worst situation, it would be imprisonment for trying to destroy valuable work of Dexter in the past. In the best situation, it would be an additional surplus of supplies to his factory.

He entered the amphitheater and looked at his caller.

Dexter sat at the table, a piece of paper in front of him, his fingers bouncing a pen lightly. He was fidgeting a bit, shifting his weight and moving his wavy red hair out of his face.

Mandark coughed to announce his presence. Dexter took a deep breath, stood, and faced his adversary. "Mandark."

"Dexter."

They stared at each other for a second, sizing each other up. "Mandark, I ask that you sit," Dexter said formally, gesturing to the table in front of him. Mandark slowly made his way to the table and sat down on the farthest side away from Dexter. Dexter sat down across from him, making no move to close or even shorten the space between them.

No traps so far.

"You may notice that I have come completely unguarded," Dexter informed him. "I have no weapons on my person, and there are no guards here."

"I see that," Mandark agreed. His voice was just short of being hostile.

"There is a particular reason for this." Dexter blinked behind his glasses. "I haven't called you here in the hopes of injuring or deceiving you in any way."

Mandark snorted. "_Wow."_

Dexter almost seemed to wince. If Mandark hadn't known Dexter as long as he had, he would have said he had. But Dexter didn't wince. Never.

"That statement is...true. But today, I wish to make it known that my motives are nothing but innocent. If you wish to turn violent, I will have you arrested on assault. I do not want it to come to that."

Mandark smirked. This was sounding better and better. Dexter not fighting back, Mandark finally winning. Glorious.

"Then what is it that you have to say?" Mandark sneered. "I'd like to hear what you could possibly say that isn't a snide remark or a jab."

Dexter pushed his glasses up and folded his hands on the table. "First off, I'd like to…" Dexter trailed off, as if putting his thoughts in order. "Apologize for what has been said in the past."

Mandark's eyes widened. All thoughts stopped. "What?"

Dexter frowned, but kept his eyes trained on Mandark. "I'd like to apologize."

"For what?" Mandark snapped.

"What has been said in the past has been undeserved. You told me your name that day, at the bus stop, and I made fun of you for it. I was aware of what I was saying, but socially inept. I didn't realize what I was saying sparked the hatred that fuels our rivalry to this day. For this, I am deeply sorry.

"You may be asking yourself, 'How can I trust you? How do I know this isn't a trick?' And you are smart for having your suspicions. This kind of trickery is not below me. I know that.

"But this war has brought out the most mature in all of us. Older teenagers are being enlisted in the war as renewed KND operatives, young teens are suddenly babysitters for the orphaned toddlers, and thousands of toddlers have died because we couldn't find them in time. We have no time for fighting amongst ourselves. We can't have that time. Young children have lost all sense of hope. Depression in children under the age of twelve has skyrocketed. If this war has taught us anything, it is that we can survive.

"Even I have changed. My limits have been pushed. My patience has been expanded to unexplainable lengths. My mind has been milked for whatever it is worth, and then some. I must say the same for you. We are the main solution to this war, and if we were not here, this world would not be the same. The responsibility is heavy, a weight on our shoulders that is impossible to share alone.

"This being said, I know the only way to survive this war intact, for the both of us, is to take it in stride together."

Mandark was stunned. Dexter was opening up to him, spreading himself wide to ridicule. This was something that was unheard of when they were within the same room of each other. Maybe even building.

Dexter seemed to be waiting for Mandark to be coming up with a response. Mandark summoned up whatever he could think of. This entire conversation had left him in a whirl, his thoughts clouded. "How have we matured?" That question would buy him time.

Dexter nodded. "We have. Dee Dee has left my lab alone, without damage, for weeks now. She has been doing her best to oblige to my wishes of leaving any temptations to her in my lab as they are. She recently started taking medical courses. She has been working just as hard as anyone else. Her concentration had tripled in competency.

"Mandy has had to accept the help of others. Nothing would have gotten done if she hadn't.

"Ben's temper has been tamed. His work in the field, his patience, his strength, has all be a major player in this chaos. He has even kept me in check when I needed a guiding hand from someone more my age.

"I have looked back on my life in retrospect and realized I have not had a childhood. This was a shocking revelation to me. I don't know how to have one, anymore. I doubt anyone that is living through this will. All the things that I've said, I must say I regret.

"Young adults have had to become surrogate parents. Older sisters are now guardians. Younger sisters don't know how to cry anymore; too much damage has been done for them to waste tears. Their innocence is gone forever."

"Mandark, you might not realize just what this war has done to us."

Dexter stared at Mandark directly, his cerulean eyes locking on Mandark's green ones. "Mandark, the other day, as I was heading up to the Upper Levels to speak with Mandy, I overheard a conversation between a little girl and a teenager, maybe seventeen. The little girl was asking where her mother was."

_The teenager could only say, "She's on a vacation. But she'll come back all right. Don't you worry your little head. Now, where's your sister?"_

_The little girl scowled and said, "I think she's on a vacation, too. She left the other day on a battleship and hasn't come back yet."_

_The young man smiled. "What was your sister's name?" _

"And the little girl gave him a name. It was one I recognized. That day, the little girl's sister had sacrificed herself for her team by collapsing a tunnel. This trapped a Fusion Beast in a cave, keeping it at bay while her injured teammates escaped. The young man had been on that team. Grim couldn't resurrect her. She was bitten by the monster, and transformed into a beast herself. It would have been too risky to save her without endangering the entire base."

Dexter's voice had dropped very low.

Mandark's eyes stung. He had read about that girl. He hadn't even thought about her family at the time.

"The young man," Dexter continued, "could only tell her, 'Your sister…isn't coming back.'"

_The little girl asked why. The young man smiled again. It was forced, miserable. It was almost painful to look at. "She's a hero, now, okay? She's an angel. She'll be watching over you and your mommy and daddy forever."_

_The little girl's eyes narrowed. "She's not coming back?" The young man shook his head. The little girl didn't scream, kick, cry, or even whine. "Then why did her sister come back? And her brother?" She pointed to her friends. They all hugged and danced around with their older siblings. _

"The young man didn't have an answer. I had to walk over and help him. He was crying. _Crying_, Mandark." Dexter planted his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands. "I had to tell the little girl her sister was a true hero, and only true heroes didn't come back. She understood, then."

_The young man had gathered enough nerves to offer, "I'll be your big brother, all right? I won't be going anywhere, any time soon."_

"It was true; he was an engineer. From what I knew, he worked on the furnace in the bottom of the base. He hadn't even been in the field until that day, when the little girl's sister died. He had to assume the role of captain of that team temporarily while they fled. No one else on that team was in any shape to do so."

_The little girl shook her head. "Josie always came back. She'll come back this time, too," she told him sternly._

Dexter chuckled. It was a sad, morose. Tortured. "She was so determined. The young man finally convinced her to let him be her older sibling until Josie came back. I still see that girl staring out the window, at the returning ships, to this day."

Mandark's chest felt tight. Was this happening all over the base? "Dexter, what do you want me to do, exactly?" he asked, voice weak.

Dexter lifted his head. His eyes were dark. "All I can ask of you is that we end this rivalry. The answer to this offer is up to you. But I must tell you, together, we can end this war. If we don't have to constantly badger each other, destroy precious supplies, we can make even further progresses in the name of science and in the name of this world."

"How do I know…you are not trying to trick me…?" The question itself was weak. It was the remnant of a mistrusting past that refused to be given up. However, that bitter remnant was slowly being shredded to miniscule pieces with Dexter's words.

"What reason have I given you not to trust me today?" Dexter asked back.

And with that question, Mandark made his decision. He smiled up at Dexter. "Dexter, I will join you."

Dexter grinned with him. Pure hope sparked in his eyes. "Mandark, today, we have changed history. We will take the world by storm."

Mandark couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips. "More so than we have already?"

Dexter nodded, a crooked smile gracing his features. "Shake on it?"

Mandark lifted his right hand. Dexter did the same. When their hands met, something passed through them, and they saw the end of the war within reach.


End file.
